


Burning Love

by respoftw



Series: 2018 Hurt/Comfort Bingo [18]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Sunburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 03:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16569140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: John was never going to make fun of Rodney’s homemade sunscreen again.





	Burning Love

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Harvest Festival](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16287854) by [melagan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/melagan/pseuds/melagan). 



John was never going to make fun of Rodney’s homemade sunscreen again.

When John was five he had spent an entire day playing in the pool outside their summer house, completely ignoring the nanny’s numerous requests for him to top up his sunscreen.  It was the one and only time he had ever ended up sunburned.  His skin was red and sore and hot to the touch for two days afterwards and his father had confined him to the house for the remainder of their vacation.  Honestly, that had stung more than the sun burn had.

He never realised that sun burn could look like this.

“What the hell, McKay?  Shouldn’t you be in the infirmary?”  

John hovered uncertainly in the doorway of Rodney’s room, not sure if he should be calling for Carson or whether he should just frogmarch Rodney back to the infirmary himself.  Frogmarching would involve gripping Rodney’s arm though and Rodney’s arm - every inch of Rodney’s skin he could see actually - was so raw and painful looking that even breathing in the same room as it seemed like a bad idea.

Rodney barely even seemed to react, continuing with his slow shuffle towards his bed.  “Not even I am hypochondriac enough to insist on being admitted for a bit of sunburn, Colonel,” he said.  

“A _bit_ of sunburn?  Rodney, you’re skin is blistered!  That’s not a sunburn, it’s an _actual_ burn it’s - -“

“What exactly did you think a sunburn was?” Rodney interrupted, aghast.  “A sunburn _is_ an actual burn.  Granted, in most cases it doesn’t get beyond first degree but, lucky me, I got those pale, Scottish McKay genes that make it all that much worse.”  He looked at the small, itchy, fluid-filled blisters that had started to form on his shoulders and forearms with distaste. “At least it’s only second-degree this time,” he said. 

John felt like an idiot for not realising but the slight embarrassment was overshadowed with concern.  “Are you sure you shouldn’t be in the infirmary?  That looks really bad.”

“Well, excuse me, we can’t all look like male models.” Rodney frowned, obviously hurt by John’s words.

John backtracked, he hadn’t meant - - Wait, did McKay think he looked like a male model?  John shook his head, that wasn’t important now.    He tried again.  “I just meant that it looked painful.”

“Oh.” Slightly mollified, Rodney gingerly sat on the the of his bed. “It is.”  He looked mournfully down at his sheets before turning to John.  “There are blisters on my back too, aren’t there?”

John grimaced as he moved to look.  Jesus Christ, that looked painful.  “Yeah, buddy, there are.”

Rodney sighed heavily.  “Have I mentioned how much I hate the sun?”

“Once or twice.”  It was one of Rodney’s more common complaints and one John hadn’t ever taken seriously enough.  If he’d realised just how severe Rodney’s reaction would be he never would have allowed him to participate in the ritual the villagers of PU5-4SD required to cement their trade agreement.  A day long circle chant and ritual dancing had seemed harmless.  John hadn’t even given a second thought to the fact that the climate on PU5-4SD was like Arizona dry heat.  It just hadn’t ever been an issue for him, not since that one summer and - -

“I’m sorry I made you do the ritual,” he blurted out.  He hadn’t been at the time, especially since the ritual dancing had involved all the men  - more to the point had involved Rodney being dressed in nothing but a grass skirt.  The skirt had moved with the rhythm of the dance, flashing tantalising glimpses of what lay beneath often enough that John has almost tripped over his own feet more than once as he struggled to tear his eyes away.

He was sorry now though.  Sorry that Rodney was in pain and that his once pale, almost ethereal looking skin was red and burned and blistered.

“As grateful as I am that you have finally realised the importance of sunscreen, I’m fine.  We got a ZPM out of that trade agreement, even if it mostly depleted. I’d risk a lot more than a bout of skin cancer for a ZPM.”

“Skin cancer?”  John felt his eyes widen in alarm.  “Is that a - - Carson checked for that, right?”

“For the love of - I don’t have skin cancer, John.  I was just - I go to the worst case scenario, you should know that by now.  It’s just bad sunburn.  I’m going to pop ibuprofen like it’s candy for a few days and use the almost-aloe vera gel that the botanists swear by and I’ll be good within a week.”

“Do you need any help with the - ah - with the rubbing?”  John flushed as he tripped over his words and Rodney’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh my God, you’re - -you like me?  You like me and you’re making a move now when I’m so sore that I can barely move and covered in blisters and - you suck, you know that?”

John figured that since the cat was out the bag he may as well lay all his cards out on the table.

“I could, you know?  Suck, that is.  I mean, I’ve heard orgasms are good for distracting the mind from pain and - -“

“Oh my god, shut up and get down here.  I’d come to you but it would take me too long to get there and - -.” 

John moved quickly, dropping to his knees in front of Rodney.

Rodney swallowed hard.  “Hi,” he said, his voice shaky.

“Hi,” John grinned.  “You sure you’re up to this?”

“Probably not, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna turn this down,” Rodney grinned back. “Just, ah, be gentle?”

John smiled, touched his fingers briefly against Rodney’s red cheek, shocked at how hot it felt against his hand.  “Always,” he promised.

John was never going to make fun of Rodney’s homemade sunscreen again.  Not only was it very necessary to keep Rodney’s skin perfect, it also, as he soon found out, made a wonderful alternative to lube.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, I’m trying something lighter. Not sure if it fits with the h/c prompt which is “Hostile Climate”. 
> 
> I mean, to me (a real Scot) a sunny day is a hostile climate! I may need to redo this prompt, what do you think?
> 
> Also, I should have said that Rodney in a grass skirt was inspired by melagan’s fic. I just haven’t been able to get that image out of my head since!


End file.
